Essays Critical and Historical Volume 1
John Henry Newman

John Henry Newman’s Essays Critical and Historical are articles he originally wrote between 1829 and 1846 and later collected together and republished in 1871. In them Newman deals with some of the key theological

issues of his day. They show both the consistency of his theological principles and the trajectory of their development during the Oxford Movement. The essays are more combative than his title suggests—Newman engages with his subjects with vigour, forensic skill, wit, and even satire. We can also detect the approaching
crisis of his Anglican belief and his conversion to the Catholic Church in 1845. Many of Newman’s insights have turned out to be prophetic about the controversies of 20th and 21st century Christianity.

This is the first critical edition of this work. The Editor has provided an Introduction setting each essay in its

context and giving a critical analysis of it. There are also detailed Editor’s Notes to the text, explaining
the theological, literary and historical references which are often obscure to the modern reader. A comprehensive

Textual Appendix reveals for the first time how radically Newman revised some of the essays for his 1871 edition.

‘Nash’s notes are indispensable. Indeed, his annotations throughout the volume are enviably apt, combining as they do learning, precision, succinctness and wit . . . Nash’s elegant and discriminating edition will serve as a welcome reminder of the Servant of Truth in Newman.’ Catholic World Report

978 085244 457 3                                   700  pages                         £35.00hb

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Essays Critical and Historical Volume 2
John Henry Newman

This is the second volume in which John Henry Newman collected together articles which he had written as an Anglican during the Oxford Movement and revised and republished as a Catholic in 1871.

All but one are from the years immediately leading up to his conversion to the Catholic Church in 1845, thus giving a fascinating snapshot of the movement of his mind at this crucial period. The final essay was his first published article as a Catholic in 1846 in which he appeals to other members of the Oxford Movement to recognise where their Catholic theology should lead them – to Rome.

The Editor has provided a detailed Introduction to each Essay, comprehensive footnotes to the text, explaining Newman’s numerous historical and other references, and a Textual Appendix giving all the variants between the original 1840s texts and Newman’s 1871 revisions.

                      978 085244 411 5                                   700 pages                                                  £35.00hb                       

Difficulties of Anglicans Volume 1
John Henry Newman
with an Introduction and Notes by Edward Short

Originally published in 1850 and revised in 1876, John Henry Newman's Lectures on Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Submitting to the Catholic Church is a series of twelve talks that the convert gave at the London Oratory in King William Street before an audience of Catholics, Anglo-Catholics, Protestants and intrigued sceptics. The stated purpose of the talks might have been "to clear away from the path of an inquirer objections to Catholic truth," especially Anglo-Catholic inquirers, but the book is also a witty meditation on the Church and the World, a ruthlessly satirical study of the Oxford Movement, or what Newman called "the Movement of 1833"; an autobiographical dress rehearsal for the Apologia pro Vita Sua; and a piece of masterly prose. Richard Holt Hutton, Newman's finest contemporary critic regarded it as marked "in manner and style... by all the signs of his literary genius... the first of his books... in which the measure of his literary power could be adequately taken."

Neglected for over a century by many who regarded its hard-hitting criticism of the National Church of England as unforgivable, the book can now be seen as profoundly cautionary. If one of its animating themes is to show how worldly establishments travesty "the Ark of Salvation," Newman's Anglican Difficulties has perennial appeal. Indeed, it is an anatomy of the false and brazen things that lie at the heart of all such establishments.

This is the first critical edition of the book to include an editor's introduction with an overview and summaries of the lectures, the book's critical reception, a definitive text of the 1876 edition, textual variants, annotations explicating the text's historical, theological, and literary references, and a comprehensive index.

“Edward Short's critical edition of Anglican Difficulties sheds fascinating new light on John Henry Newman's lectures of 1850. This is a lively, well-researched, well-written edition, which all faithful readers of Newman will enjoy."
 – Ian Ker, author of John Henry Newman: A Biography (1988)

978 085244 412 2     700 pages  £35.00hb